this is soo true on many levels....everyone used to come to the shop for the hang out spot and do a few odd ball jobs, then it was hey, lets build custom bumpers if they supply the steel....no one ever thinks of the time and money involved in owning a completly supplied shop, the electricity to run it, the propane to heat it, the thousands of dollars I have in tools, my time away from my family, and importantly the mass amounts of free cheese and beer they were putting down. Needless to say, I dont have the loafers around the shop that I once had, but that really does not bother me now a days. I will still help a friend out or take on special projects, but there is a cost involved in one way, shape or form usually. We all seem to work well with the barter system....and some of them need to work a bit more on the BYOB system!
Cheese "nothings free in this world" Man